US President George Bush has called for the release of 15 British sailors and marines being held by Iran, calling their capture by Tehran “inexcusable behaviour”.

“Iran must give back the hostages,” Bush said. “They’re innocent, they did nothing wrong, and they were summarily plucked out of waters”.

The comments at a news conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva were the first from Mr Bush on the capture.

Washington has taken a low-key approach so far out of concern that more robust intervention might aggravate the situation and shake international resolve on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Mr Bush did not answer a question about whether the US would react militarily if those captured had been American.

With the crisis in its second week, the president said he supports Prime Minister Tony Blair’s efforts to find a diplomatic resolution.

Earlier Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that 15 captured British sailors trespassed in Iranian waters and called world powers “arrogant” for failing to apologise, the country’s official news agency reported.

Britain insists that the service members were in Iraqi waters of the Persian Gulf when they were seized by naval units of the Revolutionary Guards on March 23 – a claim backed up by GPS evidence.

Iran maintains the Britons were in Iranian waters and has demanded an apology.

Ahmadinejad comments were not his first about the incident. On Thursday, he accused Britain of trying to solve the crisis through propaganda and not